Ko-Yanagi Knife 16.5 cm Haiku Kurouchi Tosa B07 - Chroma

Description

The Ko-Yanagi knife (Cnife) 16.5 cm Haiku Kurouchi Tosa B07 is part of the prestigious Takumi ranges of handcrafted Japanese Chroma knifes. Designed to perfectly cut raw fish, sashimi and soft meat.

The Haiku Kurouchi knife series is a new arrival to the world of extremely sharp knifes as any Takumi knife should.

Even fresh out of production, the sharpness of the blade will take your breath away. With regular use of a good sharpening stone you will see that the cutting performance of what you thought to be an ordinary kitchen knife will rise to never before reached levels of sharpness. Suddenly the slicing of radishes or carrots becomes an experience in and of itself.

This is made possible by the unique design of the knife’s blade. A “sandwich construction”, produced with a core made from extremely hard, blue AOKO steel which is subsequently protected by softer layers of iron, makes it possible to achieve an optimal hardness of 61° HRC at the cutting edge.

The Kurouchi Knives owe their characteristic, archaic nature to their birthplace – the Tosa region of Southern Japan. The Tosa Region is known for its long tradition of forging knives, and also for its wild, raw and furrowed landscape, which lends its spirit to the KUROUCHI blade and gives this knife its unmistakable, untamed nature.

After it has been forged, the blade of the Chroma Haiku Kurouchi is left raw and unpolished; only the cutting edge glitters metallically.

A particular and striking detail of the handle of the CHROMA HAIKU Kurouchi is the stainless steel bolster, with the Mekugi pin, also of stainless steel, typical of the Haiku line. The handle, in accordance with the blade, is done in glazed black magnolia hardwood.

Translated from the Japanese, Kurouchi carries a meaning similar to “black-forged”. Because of its artful hand finishing and somewhat primal form, Chroma calls it the “Ur-Messer”, which translates to “Original Knife”.

A LITTLE HISTORY…

The Kurouchi knife is, so far, the only knife which fully meets the strict requirements of the CHROMA inspectors for a TAKUMI knife without being manufactured in SAKAI.

It was actually quite by chance that the little blacksmith’s shop was discovered by a CHROMA employee in the rugged Tosa region of Japan. At that time, the blacksmith thanked him for his interest by giving him a knife as a present. It disappeared, however, in the sample room of CHROMA headquarters in Japan. Some months later, the knife came to light and by further chance ended up in the hands of a friendly sushi chef who desperately wanted to acquire more knives of this kind. What followed were long negotiations with the blacksmith and the usual countless quality tests, all of which the knife passed with almost unbelievable ease. Finally, the Kurouchi knife was welcomed into the CHROMA family.

Knives like the CHROMA HAIKU Kurouchi are particularly popular with Japanese fishermen. The Funayuki blade design has the shape of the typical Japanese fishermen’s knives. As far as the blade is concerned, the Funayuki is a cross between a Deba and a Yanagi. However, it is not as compact as a Deba, but rather is endowed with a more conspicuous tip and an almost straight blade line, similar to a Yanagi. The Kurouchi knife owes its archaic character to its place of origin, the Tosa region in southern Japan.

The Tosa region is well-known, apart from its long tradition of cutlery, for its rugged, wild and furrowed landscape, which is also reflected in the Kurouchi blades and lends this knife the unmistakable quality of untamed nature.